🧑‍⚖️ The judge asks

The answers, and why

1. The judge asks about the ramp project: "What made you want to ask this question?" Which is the best answer? I wanted to know: does a steeper ramp make a toy car go farther?. Yes! Say your question and why you wondered about it. It's your project, and it shows.

2. The judge asks about the ramp project: "What did you think would happen, and why?" Which is the best answer? I thought changing how high the ramp is would change how far the car rolls, and I wrote down why.. That's a hypothesis: what you thought would happen and why, said before you tested.

3. The judge asks about the ramp project: "What did you change, and what did you measure?" Which is the best answer? I changed how high the ramp is (1 book high, 2 books high, 3 books high) and measured how far the car rolls in cm.. Exactly: one thing changed, one thing measured, with its unit. That's a fair test.

4. The judge asks about the ramp project: "What did you keep the same, and why does that matter?" Which is the best answer? I kept the same car and the same floor the same, so only how high the ramp is was different.. Naming your controls, and why they matter, is what judges most want to hear.

5. The judge asks about the ramp project: "How many times did you test it?" Which is the best answer? 3 times at each of my 3 levels, and I found the middle number.. Three tries or more at every level means one odd try can't fool you.

6. The judge asks about the ramp project: "What did you find out? Show me in your numbers." Which is the best answer? Look at my table: 1 book high and 3 books high gave different numbers, and here's the pattern.. Point to your table and your graph. Your own numbers are the best answer there is.

7. The judge asks about the ramp project: "Was your hypothesis right? How do you know?" Which is the best answer? My numbers show whether I was right, partly right or not, and I can show you where.. Right or wrong, the numbers decide. A wrong hypothesis with honest numbers is good science.

8. The judge asks about the ramp project: "Did anything go wrong, or surprise you?" Which is the best answer? One try was odd, so I did it again and wrote it in my logbook.. Judges like hearing what surprised you and what you did about it. Your logbook remembers.